Everyone I Know Goes Away in the End
by MichaelaHyde
Summary: He had watched his wife die and he had lost his daughter to the infection. It was only a matter of time before she left him too.
1. I Travel Alone

Breaking news bulletin was all she had heard that day but she was not able to stop long enough to see what the bulletin was all about. The emergency room had been overflowing with the same symptoms. A high fever, flushed skin, followed by death. The following event was something Charlotte never expected throughout her entire life. Death was followed by the reanimation of the corpse and in that moment, Charlotte stepped away from her job, knowing that if she stayed any longer, she would see the same exact fate. She sometimes wondered what would have happened if she would have had someone to care for but her parents had passed away long before the end of the world and a piece of her was thankful that they didn't have to suffer anymore than they already had.

Nearly a month had passed, Charlotte had stayed holed up in her apartment. But she knew that once she was out of ammo and food, she would have to move on and she wasn't looking forward to it. She packed up her necessities and moved out of southern Georgia by foot in the dead heat of the summer. The only time she'd ever stop would be to get a few hours of sleep, but she'd never sleep through the night, she figured it made her vulnerable to walkers and she wasn't going to let that happen to herself. Charlotte had watched it happen far too many times on her last day in the emergency room and she wasn't going to let it happen to her if she could help it. The woman only carried the necessities on her back and she continued to do so for six months.

Six months that dragged on through the fall and winter, leaving the woman as an empty shell. All she ever did was kill, sometimes she felt that it was all she'd ever done in her lifetime. Her formerly bright blue eyes were now a dull grey color. Being on her feet for six months with only the bags on her back had definitely dragged her down since she was no longer holed up in her former apartment which had probably been ransacked by now. She had taken all she could but she was sure that she had left some important things behind but there was no second guessing now because she wasn't walking back to Tifton just to check on some sentimental items she had left behind. This was her life now, there was no going back to a better, more care-free life.

The woman's eyes were beginning to close involuntarily, due to the sleep deprivation she was suffering. She had walked for long enough, it was time to settle down, if only for a little while. She'd found an old abandoned home, seeking refuge inside of the large ranch-style house. The family had packed the living room with supplies which would prove to helpful in the long run. Charlotte looks around the family room, before she runs up the stairs, plopping down on the king-sized bed. The comfort of a bed had been long forgotten but to be lying on one felt like a privilege. The bed nearly caused her to fall asleep but the sound of someone knocking interrupted her long-needed sleep. Her hand was quickly on her pistol as she slowly walks down the stairs.

Staring through the peephole, she saw two men, not rotting corpses but she had a feeling that they were bad news.

"Open the door," the men shout at her.

"What if I don't?" Charlotte responds with a smirk.

The men kick the door down and almost instantly Charlotte aims the gun at them. "Weapons down or I will shoot." She threatens as she firmly holds the weapon in her hand. "_I travel alone_," Charlotte stands there, her gun raised to the men at the door. The brunette was in no way afraid of the men who stood before, and that might just be her downfall


	2. You Have Blood On Your Hands

Charlotte awakes in a cell. She doesn't scream, but she does realize that she is bound by old rope, her skin worn down beneath the twine. She tries to open the door to find it locked from the outside before she sits down on the floor, patiently waiting until morning.

The man with greying hair snatches the pistol from Charlotte's hand, turning it around and using it against her. Her vision fades to black and the man stands above her, binding her wrists together with his belt. "Get everything you can," he tells the other man with a deep breath as he throws the unconscious woman over his shoulder. He takes her outside, throwing her into the trunk of the sports-utility vehicle that The Governor had given them. The one-handed man slides into the driver's seat, igniting the engine as he sees his partner bringing all of the woman's supplies, throwing them into the backseat.

"What's the point of kidnapping this bitch?" The driver remarks as he reaches the gates of Woodbury.

"The Governor wants her, some shit about her treading on his land," the man in the passenger's seat remarks as they roll down the window, speaking with the men outside of the gate.

The orders had been given, the two men knew exactly what to do with Charlotte and they would have to abide by those rules unless they wanted to face The Governor and their consequences. One of the men takes Charlotte to the cell that had been designated for her, throwing her on the cot before slamming the door behind him, locking it and making sure that there's a guard to watch her, making sure she doesn't try to leave.

Charlotte opens her eyes, an awful crick in her neck as she tries to stretch out. Her wrists are bound behind her back and she tries to break the rope, rubbing the skin raw beneath the twine. She wasn't scared of what she had gotten herself into and she damn well that she should be, but at this point, nothing mattered to her. Inhaling a deep breath, she sits up, trying to untie the rope but coming to no avail. A part of her wants to scream but she doesn't want to attract attention to herself. She can't even stand because of the binding around her ankles and she grinds her teeth as she continues fighting the rope before letting out a long sigh, slamming her head against the brick wall behind her.

The following morning, the sound of the door opening alerts Charlotte and she stands up quickly. The woman stands up, somehow preparing to defend herself with her hands tied behind her back. She tries to head butt him but he grabs her by the neck, locking his arm around her slender throat as he holds the bayonet against the skin of her neck.

"Don't even try it, sweetheart," the man smirks as the point digs into her skin, drawing a small bit of blood before he carries her out of the room, taking her to an empty room, throwing her to the floor. Her chin it's the floor with enough force to knock the breath out of her lungs. Another pair of footsteps enter the room and she inhales a deep breath as her hair is pulled by someone stronger than the last as he pulls her up, only to send her crashing face first into the wooden table, the possibility of a dislocated jaw entering her mind. Her nose began to bleed from the previous fall and she spits the blood to the floor.

"You do know that you treaded on my land," his deep voice echoes through the room as he holds her against the table. "Who are you with?" He growls.

"I'm not with anyone, I'm alone," she snaps back at him. His hand traces down her back and she leans back, trying head butt him from behind until his hand pushes her head back into the table, breaking her nose on impact.

"I'm not afraid to kill you," he tells her as his hand begins to wrap around her neck, cutting off her air supply as he does so. She elbows him in the gut, causing him to release his grip, only enough for her to catch her breath. He grabs her, throwing her to the ground before he lands a swift kick into her ribs before he picks her up, pinning her to the wall before he grabs her chin, holding it tightly as possible, watching her writhe in pain as his icy blues stare down at the woman.

"Don't think that I won't kill you."


	3. I Knew My Weakness

His guards had taken her to the infirmary where they had reset her nose and her jaw but she was absolutely terrified to know how badly bruised she really was. The comments made by the man in glasses assured her of her assumptions. "Do I really look that bad?" She asks, chuckling softly, coughing as she does so, the pain in her ribs reappearing. The man looks back at her, watching her carefully before smiling.

"I wouldn't say you look that bad but you look awfully bruised up," the man known as Milton speaks. Charlotte shakes her head, carefully sliding off of the observation table before collapsing to her knees in pain. The man carefully helps her up, he knew what had happened but he chose not to speak about it. Her green eyes were filled with rage towards the Governor and she wanted to pay him back for the shit he'd done to her in the past twenty-four hours. Milton could see it in her eyes and he shakes his head slowly.

"Don't even think about it," Milton warns her. He'd been tempted before but he'd never tell anyone about the way he had been treated.

"The asshole deserves anything he gets from me," Charlotte snaps as she slides off of the table, more carefully this time.

Charlotte had death threats against her but that didn't scare her. The man didn't scare her one bit and she was determined to seek out her own personal vendetta against him. Carefully, the woman walks out of the infirmary, watching out for his men as she does so. Seeking out one of the men who had brought her here, she had found him on the wall and she slowly climbs the ladder, taking a seat next to the man.

His eyes grew as he saw the woman sitting next to him. She just smirks as she snatches the pistol from his hand.

"How does it feel now?" Charlotte remarks as she aims the gun at a walker, watching as it grows closer but she watches as the bullet flies by the undead.

Martinez laughs and she hands the gun back to him as she leans back into the chair. She feels as if a pair of eyes are burning a hole through her skin as she looks over her shoulder to see The Governor standing there. Carefully, she climbs back down as she looks over at him. A piece of her knows that he won't do anything to her in the eye of the public but she wants to instigate him. Her hands were no longer tied, although she was injured, she'd still be more capable of fighting him. Her green orbs glare at him as she slips past him.

Before she can say anything, a hand wraps around her arm, pulling her into the old school that she had been forced to stay in the previous night. The guard locks her in cell once again but this time, she spends countless hours pacing back and forth in the small room. It was dark by the time she took a seat and she was surprised that she hadn't worn a hole into the tile flooring. Darkness overtook the room and she sits on the uncomfortable cot, staring at the wall. Charlotte couldn't force herself to sleep, not after everything she had experienced in Woodbury, she was scared to know what would happen if she would fall asleep in the reach of the Governor.

A few hours had passed and the room had grown darker, or that's at least how it appeared to Charlotte. The sound of the door opening surprises Charlotte and she peeks over at the person standing in the doorway, inhaling a deep breath as she does so. The man sits down on the cot next to her, causing her to stand. She couldn't stand being around the man and she was not expecting to seem him, not in her own personal cell.

"What are you doing here?" She questions through gritted teeth.

"Can't pay a prisoner a visit?" The man half-laughs, his blues eyes gazing back at the woman in front of him.

"You're fuckin' crazy," she growls as she looks down at him.

He gets to his feet instantly, cornering Charlotte as he looks down at her. "What did I tell you earlier?" He gently traces his fingers across Charlotte's bruised cheeks and chin. She shivers at his touch as she looks back at him. His hands were capable of killing her if given the chance to do so. She gently nods her head, fear nowhere apparent in her eyes as she watches him carefully. 

* * *

A/N: I just want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! And there will be an update sometime tomorrow night, I can assure you. Hope you enjoy this chapter!


End file.
